zondag 2 augustus 2015

zaterdag 1 augustus 2015

Boy! That's Colourful!

This drawing didn't turn out as I would have liked - I think I could of done his face a little better, it seems a little out of balance. Maybe I should have reconsidered his hairstyle as well. Not sure, but something just seems a little off overall.

So after inking and scanning, I like to take a picture like this and see what can be done with a little colour. And then I really try to only use a little. I've been working with a limited 64-colour pallet for the past four years or so, and have been really enjoying it. But with an illustration like this, it's fun to limit things even more - use maybe greys and perhaps one other tint, like the pinks in this one. Perhaps it helps tie things together a little better - and it's sometimes just nice to colour a face in with something other than "flesh-colour".

vrijdag 31 juli 2015

All Thumbs (and fingers and feet and what-not)

This little fellow was fun to draw - I thought I'd give him a rather nonchalant hair-do and a pair of sporty sneakers. It was also handy to be able to skip the shoulders and neck, two areas of human anatomy over which I often stumble. But he gets on just fine - obviously able to shave and comb his hair, dress himself and even finds time to scrawl a bit on the floor (which in this case is a lemon yellow, level loop pile carpet, perfect for this high traffic area).

donderdag 30 juli 2015

Water and Women

Ah, two of the more difficult things to draw I've always found. Well, horses and cars and bicycles are hard, too. Birds as well (the feet always come out odd when they're flying), and a table set for dinner is kind of a challenge - with all those plates and glasses and silverware. Round things like wheels give me no end of trouble, and drawing grass and bushes is another thing that keeps me guessing. Actually, I think everything is pretty hard to draw and ink... well, the starfish was fun to draw, and all those dots for the sand. And her hair - I enjoy inking hair, it's one of my favourite parts of a drawing.

woensdag 29 juli 2015

Cartoon Summer Special!

Gee whizaroo..! How's come there have been so precious few cartoons and posts on this idiotic blog the past few months? I do firmly believe it can be remedied, and should like to delight my audience with a shed-load of brush and ink offerings for the coming month of August. I'm half tempted to write a few coherent lines about each drawing as well, but let us see how that pans out.

Here is the first instalment, as a gentle countdown to the coming month. I tried a couple of things with this illustration - firstly, it served as more practice in using the diagonal vanishing point. Projecting a square onto the drawing and using it as a sort of grid or floor plan - I find that very useful while drawing, it seems to help give me a feeling of space and proportion. And more often than not, I'll keep the grid as a tiled floor. I ought to draw a carpet one day, now I think of it.

And secondly, I wanted to use more blacks in a constructive way. I find it difficult to "spot" blacks - it's kind of a juggling act between contrast and interest and clarity. And clarity is what I find most difficult. Obviously, the floorboards and more of the floor should be in shadows here (not to mention most of the figure...) but in trying to develop my own style, I tend to stylize the reality of it all. The lighting could be much more dynamic, much more dramatic - it's something I have to work on.

dinsdag 14 juli 2015

zaterdag 11 juli 2015

Sun, Surf and Deep Land Fishing

"YIPPEE! THEY'RE BITING TODAY!" So quipped Cumbert Quince as a quick tug at his bait belied the hungry presence of a frenzied fish. Cumbert's enthusiasm was perhaps odd, given that he refuses to eat fish. "I couldn't do that, no. I couldn't eat a fish. I only catch them because I one day dream of taking swimming lessons from a mackerel or perhaps an eel. I've just never come across one yet that seems willing to teach."

vrijdag 10 juli 2015

A Sandwich in the Sand

GUY MACPHAIL POSING WITH Frank (left) and Denise (right), on their wedding day. The photograph was taken on the beach near Meadowweed Clough, and thought to be one of many hundreds taken that day. The marriage was short but happy - both Frank and Denise were consumed within the hour, and a satisfied Guy was later heard to belch "The Wedding March" as he strolled back to his seaside bungalow.

dinsdag 12 mei 2015

zaterdag 28 februari 2015

Pick 'n' Sniff with Jerome Bobert

"I LIKE TO THINK I'M TAKING the profession of 'dolly-doctor' a great leap foreword," said Bobert enthusiastically during our short encounter. "Those good learned men and woman certainly know how to repair a doll, and many have great skill. But I adhere to the old adage, 'prevention is better than a cure'. That's why I've devoted myself to dolly gynaecology."

Bobert is pictured below preparing to preform a short exploration of Barbie's fallopian tubes.

vrijdag 13 februari 2015

Pammy Penadora, the Polyester Primrose

"I WAS LISTENING TO THERADIO one afternoon," Pammy began, "and there was this song on it I really liked. I'm not sure the song liked me much, though - after a few minutes it stopped. I can only suppose it somehow knew I was listening in."

vrijdag 23 januari 2015

Lillian Gladd - An Afternoon's Ramble

"I'M NOT REALLY MUCH OF A HIKER," she confided to me during a slow trudge over the rolling landscape. "I quite dislike it, actually. But the sticks and twigs - well, I do so enjoy them. They keep me firm."

vrijdag 16 januari 2015

Walking/Crawling on Sunshine

"OH, TO BE SURE, IT WAS IN NEW CASTLE", recalled Milton Swanneck during his supper, "on the High Street, when I was just a lad. On the one side you had a shoe repair place - I think they also made keys and sharpened knives and skates and the like - and on the other side, there sat a florists. And smack-dab in the middle was the butchers. The name? No - I've forgotten that, but that butcher shop had the loveliest bit of linoleum flooring I've ever seen.

"It was proper linoleum, made of linseed, and had a rugged burlap backing. Never saw the shop or the floor more than that one time, but certainly - it made a lasting impression I don't think will ever fade from my memory. It was perfection."

donderdag 15 januari 2015

Logarithms of the Heart

A PIONEER IN THE FIELD OF post-war navigational mathematics, Montague Marsh's major work, "Seasonal Currents of the South Seas, Expressed in Algorithms" is now sadly forgotten by most. At the time of it's publication, it was a rather popular book - indeed so successful, that Marsh used the proceeds to establish his own publishing house, specializing in mathematics and sensational romances novels.

This rather odd combination proved confusing to the reading public and "Lurid Theorems Publishing" quickly dissolved. But Marsh left us with a few other noteworthy works, including, "The Discreet Function of Passion", "Love and it's Antiderivatives" and "Pointless Topography and Hot Love Kisses - Sober Set Erotica". The latter was eventually made into a short serialized radio play, staring Kenneth Moore as the voice of Horace Homomorphism.